Luke 21:19 “By standing firm you will gain life.” Amen
My mom had an intense fear of earthquakes. I grew up near the New Madrid Fault (and still live in that area). I Google’d New Madrid to find some info and according to prophecynewswatch.com, “The New Madrid is six times larger than the San Andreas fault zone in California and it covers portions of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi.” That is a LARGE area.
So, I remember mom trembling when she heard about “The BIG one” that we are supposed to have at any moment. This was 30 years ago. She prepared an earthquake closet in the hallway that contained canned food, bottled water, and other supplies. I think my dad thought she was silly, so I did too but she was prepared. My mom passed away in 2003 and never experienced that earthquake. Her other fears consumed her even more than the earth shaking and she lost her life from complications from depression. I do remember having small quakes occasionally growing up though. I am guessing I may have experienced five or less in my 44 years on the planet. They were likely in the 3-4-magnitude range (or less I am totally guessing) and I don’t recall them causing any damage except maybe a few trinkets being knocked off the shelf. So we are still waiting for the BIG one in the New Madrid Fault area.
Here in Japan earthquake activity is common. I have experienced three since I arrived here on April 17th. That is nearly as many as I have experienced in my entire lifetime in just a little over one month. The second was a couple of days ago. I had already gone to bed and was drifting off when the bunk bed I am sleeping in began to shake. It seemed to go on forever. It was more severe than the one I felt a few days after I first arrived. My friend was not home from work yet so I sent her an email to make sure she was okay but did not receive a response. I heard her father check on her son in the next room but other than that all remained quiet. My brain was not quiet though. I emailed a friend back home and asked her to find homes for my cats if I don’t make it back. (Now who is silly?) I couldn’t sleep after all the shaking and I wanted to check and see if I could find the magnitude online. I kept thinking that the small quakes we are experiencing might be a warning for a BIG ONE here in Tokyo. I found a Twitter page with live earthquake updates for Japan and I began talking with two other people who also felt it. I found out quickly they were also foreigners. There were ZERO Japanese people involved in the conversation about the 5.4 magnitude quake we had just experienced. To them, the earth shaking is a normal part of life.
I talked to my friend here the next day and she said she was still at dinner with colleagues in the city and someone paused the conversation and said, “earthquake?” And someone else confirmed, “Yes” and they went on with their evening not thinking twice about it. She told me that if the quake doesn’t knock me down if I am trying to walk to not worry about her. WOW.
They do have an earthquake closet here in the house I am staying in. They are prepared. But they do not constantly worry about “The BIG one” like my mom used to. I get excited quickly when something like that happens. I emailed two people and sent out a bunch of tweets and everyone in Tokyo just went on with life. I did have to giggle when one of the people I was tweeting with said something along the lines of “Do they make the beds shake to alert hotel guests when there is a quake? Or did I really feel a quake?” I think he was from England and had NEVER experienced an earthquake in his life. He had just arrived in Japan a few hours earlier and was likely exhausted, jet lagged, and had a special greeting from mother nature to say “Goodnight, welcome to Japan.”
I thought a lot about my friend’s comment about the fact if I could still walk during the shaking that all was okay. It reminded me of my walk with God and my faith being tested over and over again. I have come so far in this journey. I can allow an obstacle to knock me down and choose to not get back up again. Or I can choose to stand up and continue moving forward, becoming stronger through each challenge. Some people decide to give up easily. My mom battled depression her entire life and in the end, she gave up and stopped eating. She chose not to stand anymore. She had been prepared for earthquakes but she hadn’t prepared for my dad to get sick. When he did, she chose to give up. She had a chemical imbalance, which I only partially relate to, mainly just from observing her. I wish I could have helped her but the battle to keep fighting was her own. The thing that keeps me going through hard times is remembering what happened to my mom and DECIDING that I will not allow that to happen to me. I am stronger than I think. Tests come frequently and sometimes I do fail and curl up in a ball and want to give up. The earthquakes are a good analogy to the battles I face. They might knock me down but I get up the next day, stronger than the day before.
From my reading this morning…”To make a really good piece of pottery you sometimes have to smack the clay down on the wheel a few times, or it will never survive the fire.” ~ S. Case
By being prepared, digging in, and standing firm…I survive.
Blessings,
Stacey ~ iamalive